Game Set For July 28 At Fenway Park…

The Cape Cod All-Star Game will be played at Boston's historic Fenway Park.

The All-Star game is presented by the leading banks of Cape Cod —- Bank of America, Eastern Bank, TD Bank, Cape Cod Cooperative Bank and Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank.

Scott Pickler of the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox will be the field manager for the East Division, with Harvey Shapiro of the defending champion Bourne Braves piloting the West.

Leading the way for the East are Brewster outfielder Drew Martinez (Memphis) and Orleans second baseman Kolten Wong (Hawai’i), who are currently 1-2 in the league in batting average.

Wong will be joined on the right side of the infield by Chatham first baseman Aaron Westlake (Vanderbilt). Anchoring the left side will be two players from second-place Y-D —-  shortstop Joe Panik (St. John’s) and third baseman Tyler Hanover (LSU). This is the second All-Star selection for Hanover, who was a reserve last year.

Martinez will also have a friendly face beside him in the outfield as teammate Cohl Walla (Texas) was named a starter along with Y-D’s Caleb Ramsey (Houston).

The designated hitter is Harwich’s Clint Moore (West Point), with Harwich’s Pratt Maynard (N.C. State) named the starting catcher.

The Mariners also landed two reserve players in utility man Levi Michael (North Carolina) and outfielder Ronnie Richardson (Central Florida). Chatham catcher Joe Pavone (UConn) fills out the roster.

Leading the pitching staff for the East will be Brewster’s Andrew Gagnon (Long Beach State). Gagnon leads the league with five wins and sports a 1.69 ERA through six appearances. He also ranks second with 38 strikeouts. He will be joined by a strong supporting staff that includes teammate and closer Colton Murray (Kansas), Kyle Simon (Arizona) and Marcus Stroman (Duke) of Orleans, Derek Self (Louisville) and Logan Verrett (Baylor) of Chatham, and Adam Morgan (Alabama), Braden Kapteyn (Kentucky) and Matty Ott (LSU) of Harwich.

The Wareham Gatemen lead the West Division All-Stars with five selections, while the Braves had three players named.

Representing Bourne will be starter Grayson Garvin (Vanderbilt), and relievers, RJ Alverez (Florida Atlantic) and Tony Zych (Louisville). Alvarez and Zych have yet to allow an earned run this summer. Garvin is 3-0 in four starts with a 0.79 ERA.

Right-hander Austin Wood (St. Petersburg), who has dominated, going 3-0, with an 0.58 ERA in 31 innings, represents Cotuit. Joining him from the Kettleers is right-handed reliever AJ Achter (Michigan State), who has posted a 1.03 ERA in 10 appearances.

Making the team from the Gatemen are right-hander Max Perlman (Harvard) and lefty Jed Bradley (Georgia Tech). Hyannis’ Tyler Ray (Troy) will make the trip to Fenway, along with Falmouth southpaw Christian Jones (Oregon).

Falmouth’s Andrew Susac (Oregon State) gets the start behind the plate, with Hyannis’ Cam Seitzer (Oklahoma) at first base, Falmouth’s Kevin Medrano (Missouri State) at second, Wareham’s Tyler Bream (Liberty University) at third and Falmouth’s KC Serna (Oregon) manning shortstop.

The starting outfielders are Cotuit’s Chad Wright (Kentucky), Wareham’s  Zach Wilson (Arizona State) and Hyannis’ John Ruettiger (Arizona State).

The designated hitter will be Cotuit’s Jordan Leyland (UC Irvine).

The reserves are Wareham catcher Tony Caldwell (Auburn), utility infielder Casey McElroy (Auburn) and Bourne outfielder Scott Woodward (Coastal Carolina).

General admission tickets for the game, priced at $10, are still available and can be purchased on the Cape League website at www.capecodbaseball.org, or at any of the 10 ballparks.

(Cape Cod Release)

Cards Must Overcome McDonnell’s Suspension

Chris Lemonis will help run the Cardinals during Dan McDonnell's three game suspension.

nation, especially without a quality leader like McDonnell guiding the ship, the talent that comprises the Louisville roster will make the job of assistant coach Chris Lemonis a lot easier.

A trio of All-Americans will be on display this weekend for Louisville starting with third baseman Phil Wunderlich who headlines a lethal Cardinal attack.

Wunderlich, a Junior, leads Louisville with 20 home runs, while being tied for third on the team in average (.357) and RBI’s (58).

The leading hitter for the Cards is first baseman Andrew Clark who comes into Regional action with a .377 clip, along with 12 home runs, and 58 RBI.

Ryan Wright is the Cardinals’ leading run producer with 77 RBI to compliment his .366 average.

To speak to the depth of the Louisville sluggers, the team boasts seven starters with averages north of .310, which could have been even greater if the programs top offensive prospect – Josh Richmond – hadn’t been lost for 40 games due to a wrist injury.

With Richmond healthy, the team carries a .317 cumulative batting average, while collecting 156 doubles, 9 triples, and 85 home runs in 60 games, equating to a gaudy .517 slugging percentage, along with an on-base percentage of .402.

The aggressiveness as the plate continues on the base paths as 80 bags have been swiped in 103 attempts, led by Cardinal Catcher Jeff Arnold, who leads the team with 16 stolen bases.
Wunderlich has swiped 12 himself as well.

As impressive as the offensive numbers are, the pitching staff might one-up their peers.

Thomas Royse was named a 3rd Team All-American this week by Louisville Slugger. (Louisville photo)

As a team Louisville has a 3.71 ERA while collecting 454 strikeouts in 550 innings. Seven Cardinal pitchers with at least 30 innings have ERAs sub-4 with a pair of All-Americans that bookend the staff.

At 9-1, Thomas Royse is the leader of the Louisville rotation. Royse has a 2.91 ERA in 99 innings with 94 strikeouts. Opponents who bat .252 off Royse don’t fare much better against the rest of the pitching staff, as opposing offenses (.261 ave) are finding it difficult to string hits together.

The other All-American arm the Cardinals have is closer Neil Holland. With 16 saves Holland is one of the best in the country, a sentiment reflected by his 2.10 ERA, with 52 strikeouts in 51 innings of work. Holland has held the opposition to a stingy .153 batting average while collecting eight wins on the season.

Justin Amlung (5-1, 4.01), and Dean Kiekhefer (4-3, 4.31) are two starters with at least nine starts between them. If not seeing action in the rotation Bob Revesz (1-1, 1.95), Matt Koch (2-0, 3.55), Derek Self (7-0, 4.53), and Tony Zych (4-2, 5.47) will see action in relief.

With such a complete program, Louisville is the favorite in their own regional.  McDonnell’s suspension should do little to derail this team, if not bring them closer together.

Louisville has it all this year on the diamond.  Contact, power, speed and a quality pitching staff that has a lights-out Friday night starter, along with a great closer, and several other quality arms,  Vanderbilt will have a hard time eliminating Louisville, even with the loss of their head coach this weekend.

In securing a national seed, the Cardinals are looking forward to hosting a Super Regional, and will leave no rock unturned in that pursuit.

West Virginia’s Jedd Gyorko Named Preseason Player Of The Year

Randy Fontanez

CLICK HERE for an exclusive podcast interview with Jedd Gyorko

Pitcher of the Year: Randy Fontanez, Jr., RHP, South Florida

C  Erick Fernandez, Jr., Georgetown - .349 BA, 5 HR, 28 RBIs

C  Jeff Arnold, Sr., Louisville - .246 BA, 3 HR,

1B Andrew Clark, Sr., Louisville - .350 BA, 9 HR, 55 RBIs

2B  Adam Duvall, Sr., Louisville - .328 BA, 11 HR, 51 RBIs

3B  Dan DiBartolomeo, Jr., WVU -.439 BA, 8 HR, 59 RBIs

Jedd Gyorko

SS Jedd Gyorko, Jr., WVU -.421 BA, 8 HR, 58 RBIs

OF George Springer, So., UConn -.358 BA, 16 HR, 57 RBIs

OF Stewart Ijames, So., Louisville -.349 BA, 8 HR, 39 RBIs (2008 Stats)

OF Jimmy Parque, Jr., St. John’s -..360 BA, 5 HR, 61 RBIs

OF Junior Carlin, Jr., USF - .384 BA, 0 HR, 27 RBIs

DH Matt Szczur, So., Villanova - .346 BA, 1 HR, 24 RBIs, 18 SB

P  Randy Fontanez, Jr., USF (7-3, 3.09 ERA)

P  Jarryd Summers, Jr., WVU (7-3, 3.05 ERA)

P  Cole Johnson, Jr., Notre Dame (7-3, 4.56 ERA)

P  Tony Zych, So., Louisville (6-2, 3.25 ERA)